


An Understated Declaration

by thearnoldwaltz



Category: Naruto
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:09:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24615817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thearnoldwaltz/pseuds/thearnoldwaltz
Summary: In which Gai tries to be subtle and Kakashi tries to act cool.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai | Might Guy
Comments: 6
Kudos: 63





	1. Chapter 1

“He’s running late,” Gai thought. He should have expected that. Gai’s arms and good leg were starting to burn from h olding himself up by the beams on the underside of a bridge . Gai shifted position and returned to his watch.

Finally, he caught sight of Kakashi walking down the street in his direction. As usual, the man’s nose was stuck in a book (the latest book in the  Icha Icha spin off series). Gai considered this a good thing today, as it was less likely that Kakashi would see him before he made his grand entrance. Gai willed himself to be patient and wait until Kakashi had reached the predetermined location before he made his move. Just five more paces… three more paces… one more…

As Kakashi came into position, Gai dropped the two heavy aerial silks that he had been holding in a ball between his body and the bridge. At this cue, the violinist below the bridge began to play.  Kakashi  stopped walking, but otherwise showed no reaction . Damn. Gai had been ready to dodge a few kunai, but Kakashi must have known he’d been hiding. Oh well, the show must go on!

With the grace of an acrobatic performer,  Gai slowly lowered himself to the ground using the silks . He paused in a horizontal position near the bottom, being sure to point his toes and throw back his head dramatically. The violinist held a long note, which faded as Gai pulled himself into an upright position, balancing on one leg.  Onlookers in the street gawked and murmured to one another.

“Kakashi,” he said, the word muffled due to the flower between his teeth.

“Good morning, Gai.” Kakashi said, glancing up from his book. “I don’t usually see you on this street.”

Gai removed the flower and held it out to Kakashi. “ I am here for you! Because I know you take this road each morning, and there is something I must say to you, m y eternal rival and dearest …”

Kakashi cut him off as he accepted the  flower . “ This is a very interesting flower,” he said, inspecting it. “ Don’t these only grow in the Land of Lightning?

_ He noticed!  _ _ So _ _ the  _ _ four-day _ _ journey wasn’t for naught! _ Gai thought. “I would travel any lengths for you!”

“Thank you, Gai. It’s lovely. I’ll put it in my window. I think the old lady that lives next to me will enjoy looking at it. Well, have a nice day.” Kakashi tucked the stem of the flower between two pages of his book and continued walking.

Gai slumped over, forlorn. _ Another failed attempt! _


	2. Chapter 2

Later that day, Gai was training with Lee and  Tenten , as he did every week. At this particular moment, Rock Lee was gushing about Sakura as he traversed the training grounds back and forth on his hands next to Gai.

“She is a true talent! A spectacular ninja!  So kind and dedicated! And  of course as beautiful as the rising sun! What I wouldn’t give for a single evening of romance, to shower her with the praise and affection she deserves!” Rock Lee flung one arm out wide, hitting  Tenten’s leg as he passed by the place where she was training with her flail.

Gai hummed thoughtfully. “Lee, does Sakura know how you feel?”

“Oh, she knows,”  Tenten mumbled to herself.

“Well… I did declare my love for her when we were young. But then she married  Sasuke … But that’s over now, and perhaps she does not know that my feelings remain!”

Tenten sighed.

“Gai Sensei!” Lee cried , jumping to his feet. “How should I let her know how I feel?!”

Gai, still doing a handstand, offered his enthusiastic advice. “You must make it as big as possible! Don’t hold back! Express the burning passion of your youth!! Otherwise, she might not understand what you’re trying to say!”

“Seriously?”  Tenten said, but the men did not notice.

“I could serenade her outside her window ? And… and give her an enormous stuffed bear!”

“No, I’ve tried that…” Gai mused.

“What?”

Gai shook the thought from his head. “Think bigger, Lee! Surround her with flowers and chocolates! Hire an orchestra! Do an interpretive dance!” Gai demonstrated with some erratic hip movements.

Lee nodded his head vigorously, hanging on his sensei’s every word.

“Do not do that!”  Tenten yelled.

Lee’s face fell. “You think I shouldn’t tell her?” He asked Tenten, but continued before she was able to respond. “I guess she and Sasuke did only separate one year ago… Do you think I should give her more time to mourn?”

Gai  waved his fist in the air . “No excuses, Lee! Do not squander your youth in fear! The time is now!”

“Thank you for your wise advice, Sensei!” Lee placed his hand over his heart. “I vow that this week, I will tell Sakura of my love. If I cannot do it, I will hop on one hand all the way to the Sand Village and back!”

“You better not back out, Lee!”

“I will not! I must leave now to make preparations!” Rock Lee ran  from the training grounds with an exuberant “whoop!”

Tenten rolled her eyes. “You two are always so dramatic.”

“It’s just t hat we have so much passion in our hearts,  Tenten !” Gai said, settling -  right side up -  into h is wheelchair.

“ Mhm .” The kunoichi was unimpressed. “Are you going to babysit Metal while Rock Lee is hopping all the way to  Sunagakure ?”

“That won’t be necessary. I have faith that he will keep his word.” Gai looked out across the training ground and saw Kakashi walking past on the other side of the fence. “Rival!” Gai called out, a broad smile on his face. Kakashi waved back and continued walking.

Tenten watched this exchange with interest. “Your advice to Lee was personal wasn’t it?” Gai seemed confused by the question, so she clarified, “I heard about your declaration of love this morning.”

“ So you understood that it was a confession?! Why isn’t it clear to him? I’ve tried to make my confessions as big as possible so he can see the depth of my feelings! But his responses are too mild! If he’d just give me some indication that he wasn’t interested at least I would know! But he must not be understanding or he would react!”

Tenten didn’t like seeing her sensei conflicted. He was usually so sure of himself. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Why don’t you try being more, you know, subtle? No big declaration. No audience. Just talk to him.”

Gai batted this novel idea around in his head for a bit. “I appreciate your  advice ,  Tenten . Lee and I ought to listen to you more often.”

“Yes, you should!”

“Speaking of which... maybe we should tell him to ignore my earlier suggestions .”

Tenten laughed. “Yeah, I’m on it.”


	3. Chapter 3

Kakashi tended to invite himself over to Gai’s place a few times a week to have dinner or play cards, so Gai decided he would wait for Kakashi to do that before making his move. He wasn’t sure he could manage to invite Kakashi over without an exuberant declaration. 

It took Kakashi longer than Gai had hoped to come around of his own accord, but Gai took advantage of the time by practicing subtlety. He rid his house of flowers and chocolates to avoid the temptation to create a lavish gift basket. He practiced making subtle facial expressions in the mirror. He tried saying dull, nonchalant things like “You look very attractive, Kakashi,” and “I want to be your lover, Kakashi.”

Finally, Kakashi showed up at Gai’s door with a deck of cards in his hand. “Go Fish?” he asked.

Normally, Gai would take this as a challenge and do everything in his power to win, but his head wasn’t really in this game.  _ Don’t  _ _ overdue _ _ it,  _ he thought to himself as they played.  _ Speak simply and directly. _

Gai cleared his throat and focused on keeping the volume of his voice at a reasonable level.

“Kakashi…” Gai started.

“Yes?” Kakashi asked absentmindedly as he frowned at his cards.

“There’s something I’d like to tell you.”

“You mean like which card you want?”

“Huh?”

“It’s your turn, Gai.”

“Oh, right. Any 7s?”

“Go fish.”

Gai pulled a card from the top of the deck. “That isn’t what I wanted to say though. I wanted to confess something.”

Finally, Kakashi looked up from his cards. “What’s that?” he asked, with a curious look that made Gai smile.

_ When I look at you, the springtime of my youth returns! My heart flutters like a butterfly! I want to leap with joy like a fresh spring bunny. Be with me so our love can bloom like a thousand wild flowers!! No, no, reel it in, Gai! _

He took a deep breath and put on a serious face. “I have feelings for you.”

Kakashi blinked, saying nothing. “Romantic feelings,” Gai clarified.

Kakashi “ hmmed ,” and looked back at his cards, as if Gai’s confession were merely interesting and not something that personally concerned him. “That’s not the kind of love confession I expect from you,” Kakashi said finally. “No vow to protect me eternally. No flowers. No violinist in the background.” Kakashi glanced around the room, “Am I under some kind of  genjutsu that causes my friends to act strangely?”

“What? No!” Gai was  thoroughly confused now. “It’s just that I’ve tried to tell you in other ways, but my message didn’t seem to be getting across.”

“Your messages are quite clear,” Kakashi said, chuckling.

_ So _ _ he understood after all. That must mean he doesn’t feel the same.  _ Gai felt a lump form in his throat. “I see... Well, I hope that we can still be eternal rivals and friends. In spite of my unrequited crush.”

Kakashi stared intently at his cards. “It’s uh... it’s not unrequited. Do you have any 4s?”

Gai missed the request for 4s, all his attention being consumed by the former sentence. “You feel the same?”

“Of course. I thought we both already knew.” Kakashi held out his hand. “4s.”

Gai practically  leapt across the table. He took Kakashi’s hand in his own. “ Haha !! I knew you did! I just knew we were meant to spend the  fiery autumn of our lives together!” Gai could have gone on, but a sudden thought stopped him.

_ He thought I knew how he felt about me? How was I supposed to know? _

“Wait. You thought we both knew? But we’ve never…” Gai’s voice trailed off at the end of the sentence.

“What? Kissed?”

Gai meant more than just kissing. They’d never held hands or cuddled or flirted (well, maybe that last one was open to interpretation). “Yes. That. Among other things.”

Kakashi raised an eyebrow and gave Gai a pointed look, but Gai wasn’t sure what he was trying to convey.

Kakashi rose from his chair and walked around the table to where Gai sat. He placed his hands on the armrests of Gai’s wheelchair and leaned over so his face was a few inches away from Gai’s own. “Do you want to?”

“To…”

“Kiss?”

Very rarely in his life had Gai blushed, but he felt the heat rising in his cheeks now. He nodded. Kakashi pulled down his mask and closed the distance between them.


	4. Chapter 4

Gai pulled Kakashi into the wheelchair with him, pleased that Kakashi was the one blushing now. Unfortunately, moments later they heard the doorknob turn. Kakashi had just barely enough time to replace his mask and spring from Gai’s lap before Lee barged inside.

“Gai Sensei, I did it!”

“Congratulations, Lee! I knew you could do it!” Gai cheered, despite not remembering what it was he should be congratulating Lee for.

“And she said yes! Sakura and I are going on a date tomorrow evening!!”

Remembering now, Gai’s chest swelled with pride in his student. He gave Lee two thumbs up. “That’s fantastic!”

Lee stormed past Kakashi and threw his arms around his sensei’s neck. “I never could have done it without your fine words of encouragement! And  Tenten’s guidance of course.” Lee laughed at himself. “She told me to lower my intensity so as not to scare Sakura away, so I only wrote her a  ten-page poem and delivered it with a bouquet of roses.”

“Like teacher, like student,” Kakashi said.

Lee seemed to register for the first time that Kakashi was there. “My apologies for interrupting your evening, Kakashi Sensei. I simply had to come here and say thank you to my teacher!”

“Of course.” Kakashi replied. “Congrats, Lee. I hope you and Sakura have a lovely time.”

“Thank you for your well wishes!” Lee said, clasping Kakashi’s hand between both of his own. Kakashi worried that the younger man might start crying tears of joy.

“Well Lee, you better go make sure you have something presentable to wear tomorrow,” Gai suggested, for once in his life eager for his favorite student to leave.

“Another excellent piece of advice, Sensei! I will be off. Wish me luck!” Lee raced to the door and slammed it shut behind him, leaving the older men alone together once more.

“Good luck,” Kakashi said, though Lee was well out of hearing range now. He turned back to Gai. “ So, was it  Tenten who convinced you to tone it down?”

“Yes, and a good thing too! Otherwise I never would have realized you had feelings for me.” Gai smiled slyly, making Kakashi blush again. Gai could get used to that.

“I uh... I’m sorry you didn’t realize,” Kakashi began. “I thought it was kind of our thing. You make a dramatic show of your love and I would subtly accept. Remember when I put that giftbox on your porch? It had a rock, a piece of paper, and a pair of scissors. To symbolize our  janken games. Surely you knew how I felt then?”

Gai laughed. He wasn’t sure how anyone was sup posed to assume romantic feelings from that, though now knowing what it was supposed to mean, he found it rather sweet.

“I guess not.” Kakashi scratched at his mask, which Gai knew to be a nervous habit. “For what it’s worth... I kind of like the dramatic confessions.”

Gai leapt from his chair, balancing on one leg. “Then I will sing of my love from the rooftops! I will dazzle the world with my passion! All of Konoha will know how my heart burns for you! My eternal rival, you are the most handsome and talented being in the universe! The most...”

Kakashi cut him off. “Okay, okay. There  _ is  _ such a thing as going too far.”

“Well... there is something you could do to shut me up.”

Kakashi grabbed Gai by the  collar and pulled him in for a kiss.


End file.
